If Australia break their 39-year losing streak at Eden Park against the All Blacks on Saturday it may go down in history as the ultimate inside job given the New Zealanders dominating the Wallabies’ coaching staff.
Having helped the All Blacks reach the 2023 World Cup final as a strategist and selector, Joe Schmidt is plotting their downfall at the Auckland stronghold where the hosts are unbeaten in 31 years and last lost to Australia in 1986.
Two of Schmidt’s trusted lieutenants, both fellow New Zealanders, oversee the Wallabies’ set-piece with Mike Cron in charge of the scrum and former All Blacks lock Tom Donnelly the line-out.
Donnelly worked under Cron’s nephew Simon at Perth-based Super Rugby team Western Force until being picked up in July to replace Geoff Parling, who returned home to coach English club Leicester.
The former Otago stalwart will coach against his home nation for the first time on Saturday and says there will be no mixed feelings.
“I suppose when you’re in professional sports, whatever team you’re involved with, you get emotionally invested in it pretty quickly,” the 43-year-old told reporters on Tuesday.
“I’m just trying to do a really good job here with the Wallabies and really enjoying it.
“Preparing to beat an opposition, nothing changes. Just go about my work and make sure that we prepare these boys as best we can so we turn up on Saturday and give a performance that we’re really proud of.”
Australia, who lead the Rugby Championship by a point, can knock the All Blacks out of the competition with a round to spare if they win with a bonus point while breaking the psychological hold of their long losing streak at Eden Park.
However, more importantly for Australian fans would be the chance to end the All Blacks’ long Bledisloe Cup reign.
New Zealand have held the annual trophy contested by the trans-Tasman nations since 2003, a generational dominance that has cast a long shadow over Australian rugby.
With New Zealand the holders, Australia need to win at Eden Park and avoid losing the re-match in Perth a week later, or vice versa, to wrest back the trophy.
Wallabies winger Max Jorgensen was not even born when Australia last held the trophy in 2002 but he will hope to be a part of the team that wins it back, starting with his first Bledisloe test on Saturday.
For Jorgensen, talk of Australia’s long drought was not a big feature of their preparations but he said playing better for longer was high on the agenda after slow starts in back-to-back tests against Argentina.
“It’s ultimately about becoming an 80-minute team,” he told reporters. “Putting in an 80-minute performance that we can really be proud of.”
Australia will miss France-based Will Skelton for the Eden Park clash but will have the towering lock back in camp for the re-match against the All Blacks in Perth, Rugby Australia confirmed.
